HOW seriously will you be taking the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy this season?

John, Meltham

VERY seriously.

I want to do as well as possible in every competition we enter.

I was very disappointed at going out of the Carling Cup at Blackpool, so there’s even more desire to do well in the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.

It might not have the glamour of the FA Cup, but it presents clubs like ours with the most realistic chance of getting to a final, and now that means a trip to Wembley.

It would be a great day out for fans, and the revenue generated is certainly not to be sniffed at.

I’m told that when Town got to what was then the Autoglass Trophy final back in 1994, it had a real galvanising effect and helped lay the platform for the promotion which was to follow.

All that’s a long way off, however.

We’re at the first hurdle, and Tuesday’s trip to Grimsby will be no walk in the park.

They’ll be just as determined as us to have a good run in the Trophy, and they’ve got a canny manager in Alan Buckley and some decent players.

It’s the middle one of three straight away games for us in between Millwall and Crewe, and there’s not much preparation time.

But it’s the same for Grimsby, who are away to Shrewsbury tomorrow, and we’ll be going there with the intention of reaching round two.

1. My personal view is that we cannot afford to have players out injured because we don’t have any depth of experience within the squad. Without our best possible team available, I can’t see us being in contention for even a play-off spot. What are your feelings?

2. I expected the attendances would have been bigger in backing you at the start of the season. Would you put this down to the lack of numbers of players brought in against the larger number moved out over the last 12 months?

Peter, Honley

THE unavailability of players at the moment is a little unusual in that you wouldn’t expect to have so many out at once.

Frank Sinclair, David Mirfin and Danny Cadamarteri have all been out injured, while Danny Schofield has been absent on compassionate leave, which you can’t legislate for.

That said, we still have six points out of nine, players coming back into the frame and Richard Keogh arriving on loan from Bristol City.

Frank Sinclair is in contention for a starting spot at Millwall and Tom Clarke is probably another 90 minutes in the Reserves away from being in the same situation.

We also have Robbie Williams to come into the side when he’s back to fitness, hopefully within a month.

At the end of the day, the budget is the budget and you work with what you have at your disposal.

That’s the situation for most of the clubs in League I, and I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be competing at the top of the table.

With regard to the attendance of 10,022 for the Carlisle game, I was pleased with both the number of fans and the backing.

Our statistics show there are season-ticket holders who weren’t present, presumably because they were on holiday, while the figures weren’t that far removed from those for the games at this time last season.

I also noticed it was the second-highest crowd in the division.

I’m pleased with the backing we’re getting, and hopefully, the fans won’t be too down about last week’s result.

I thought that in the second half, we showed that if we can find some consistency and put away our chances, we will be up there challenging.

DO you see Robbie Williams, when fit, as a full-back or a midfielder?

Dave, Huddersfield

BOTH! He has played in both roles and we need cover on the left-hand side.

Robbie is a genuine left footer who has versatility, a feature that all managers look for in a player.

Whatever the size of the squad, competition for places is always crucial, and Robbie’s presence will help maintain that.

We’re pleased with the way he’s settling into the club and pleased with the progress he’s making towards being available for selection.

PLEASE can you explain why you decided to switch to a narrower formation against Carlisle rather than push our wingers onto their full-backs?

Chris, Huddersfield

I ALTERED things because their midfield player Paul Thirlwell was getting on the ball too much and causing us problems.

The switch helped negate that, but then we gave a stupid second goal away just before half-time.

In the second half, when it was vital that we tried to force the pace, we changed to a diamond, and I thought it worked quite well.

They then tried to match us up and ended up stringing five men across midfield to close the game down.

They were hanging on a bit at the end, and it was just a shame we couldn’t get a breakthrough, because had we scored once, I think another might well have followed.

To ask Andy Ritchie a question e-mail sport@examiner.co.uk.